


past and future

by ebonynightwriter



Series: Shallura Month 2017 [11]
Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: Canon Universe, Developing Relationship, Drama, F/M, Feelings, Fighting, Gen, Mind Control, Mind Games, One-Shot, Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder - PTSD, Psychological Drama, Season/Series 04, Shallura Month 2017, Space Battles, Tension
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-12-11
Updated: 2017-12-11
Packaged: 2019-02-16 04:00:16
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,835
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13046046
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ebonynightwriter/pseuds/ebonynightwriter
Summary: During a Rebel training mission, Shiro and Allura are cut off from the group, and stranded on an unknown planet. Pushing to reunite with their team, they move forward, unaware of the dangerous forces around them…





	past and future

**Author's Note:**

> **A/N:** Every three to four days with this month I come up with an idea that just _screams_ ‘long and complicated plot’. This one took about a week to write, during which I was sick for several days, so the pacing and action may be a little on the fast side with this, but the story is there and I have a bunch of things to write beyond this so I’m not going to worry too much about making it “perfect”. 
> 
> -.-
> 
>  **[shallura month (2017) // day 11](http://ebonynightwriter.tumblr.com/tagged/mine:%20shallura%20month%202017)** · past / present / future
> 
> -.-

Chaos surrounds them.

It is all Allura thinks as they fly in the heat of battle, Galra fighters biting at their tails. Under usual circumstances, Voltron alone would have no trouble taking out a fleet this size, but the Rebels need training and coordination if they’re to win this war, and the world leaders see nothing better than a straggling Galra warship and a multitude of fighters for them to test their mettle on. So that’s what they do — use Voltron to lure the fleet into the Tomarian Asteroid Field, where the Rebel fighters lie in wait. Squads Arlo, Beetzer and Cif will strike first, coming off the right, while the rest of the squadrons sweep in from the other side.

It’s a simple plan, if they aren’t overwhelmed on the way there.

“Okay team,” Shiro says, a video from the Black Lion appearing on their consoles. “We’re almost to the rendezvous point. Remember: we’re not to engage anymore with the fleet unless absolutely necessary. This is the Collation’s fight, they’ll have to see it through.”

Lance grunts as the Galra fighters swoop past his Lion.

“Is this really a good idea?” he asks. “I mean, we might be setting them up for something _really_ bad here.”

“They have a better chance against one fleet than ten,” Shiro replies. “We’re not going to win this war with Voltron alone, we have to be able to rely on our side as well.”

Video stutters across her left console window, Allura sees Lance hang his head.

“Okay…”

“We’re here,” Shiro says. “Everyone on me.”

Voltron flies in formation, heading into the field…

Arlo squad appear seconds later, sweeping into the fighters with a tightly packed formation. Debris flies through the void of space, spreading out in broken heaps. Lance cheers from the Red Lion as the second squad goes in for their strike.

“Alright!” he shouts. “They’re nothing but a junk pile now!”

Commander Reflo appears on-screen.

 _“Good work, Voltron,”_ he says, tipping the brim of his hat at them. _“You may return to the base now, my ships can handle the rest.”_

“Thank you, Commander,” Shiro says. “But we’ll stick around further in the belt, just let us know if anything big comes your way.”

The Commander nods.

“Very well.”

The feed goes dark. Allura turns Blue around as she and the team collects within the rocky belt, watching the battle.

“It’s going well,” she says, eyes shifting to the Lions.

“Yeah,” Hunk says, landing on a large asteroid. “Soon they’ll be as coordinated as we are.”

Shiro smirks. “We’ll see—”

 _“_ — _Voltron, urgent news!_ _”_

He leans on the console.

“What is it, Commander?”

 _“We just received word from Thalriz Base,”_ he says. _“The Garla are—”_

The second fleet appears out of hyper-speed a moment too soon. Shiro grits his teeth, pushing the Black Lion’s controls.

“We’ve got this, Commander,” he says. “Get your squads out of there!”

Reflo blinks out of view a second later, the Rebel ships turning to the asteroid field. Waves of fighters pool from the second fleet, surrounding the ships with unbridled speed.

“Guys, escort the squads away from the fleet!” Shiro says. “We’ll handle the cruiser after!”

The team nods.

_“Right!”_

And they part.

.

.

.

The Galra fighters are small and nimble, weaving through the belt with daring accuracy. They speed after Beetzer Squad, sending a torrent of laser fire at the fleeing rebel ships. Thankfully, most of the attacks miss, but as they do they strike the asteroids themselves, breaking of chucks and sending larger pieces spinning into another. It’s not an easy terrain to navigate, and even harder to land a hit.

“Quiznak!” Allura grunts, maneuvering around a newly tossed rock. The Blue Lion spins around it like an ocean current, loose and flowing but the fighters escape behind another set of stone. She pushes off a larger piece, flying into the rubble above. A small clearing appears in her line of sight, one where she can easily see the red trail from the fighter’s engines. Beetzer Squad flies beyond them, nearly out of the mass of rock.

A little more, and they’d be home free.

She pushes Blue forward, flying into the field. Paying attention to the distance between Beetzer and the fighters, she lays out a map in her mind, her thoughts flowing into the Lion. The bayard slot raises, and the sonic cannon appears the instant she turns the bayard’s lock. Putting her focus on a group of asteroids ahead, she sends the wave into the belt — crushing the rock to pieces. The fighters scramble between the wave of rubble, but are eventually destroyed in a crushing heap.

Resting on an asteroid, Allura smiles at the small victory.

“Beetzer Squad is away!” she reports.

“We’ve got Arlo and Cif out!” Hunk replies.

“Drun and Epk just made it home!” Pidge says.

“Alright!” Lance says. “Let’s take out— cr— _sier—_ ”

His voice cuts out.

“Lance?” she asks, looking at the displays. “Lance, can you hear me?”

She waits in silence. Her hands move across the controls, increasing the range output for the radio.

“Hello?” she asks. “Is anybody there?”

Static flows from the comms. Out of the corner of her vision, Allura sees something white enter the window — a kind of gas, thick and flowing through the field.

Playing cautious, she moves the Lion away.

“What is this?” she asks aloud, staring at the abnormality. She looks to her screens, but they show nothing out of the ordinary about the gas. It was just a blank space — as if it wasn’t there at all.

His voice breaks through the static.

 _“He—lo?”_ Shiro says. “Is anyone there?”

“I hear you!” Allura replies, checking her radar for him. “I can’t see you on the scanners, are you—”

The Black Lion slams into her.

“Shoot,” Shiro says. “Sorry, Allura, I didn’t see you there. This gas is messing with the Black Lion’s equipment.”

She readjusts with ease, finding him as the mist spreads around them.

“It’s interfering with mine as well,” she says. “This is just like when we were on Thayserix.”

“What did you do there?”

“I can use the Blue Lion’s sonic canon to guide us out,” Allura replies.

“Got it,” Shiro says. “Lead the way.”

The Blue Lion roars.

“I see an opening in the field,” she says, studying the holo-map. “Stay close to me.”

She pushes the Lion forward, moving slow enough for Shiro to follow. They sail through the asteroids, eventually coming to an opening. The mist thins as they approach, revealing the bright green surface of a planet.

“Wait…” Shiro says, flying to her side. “This isn’t right. There shouldn’t be any planets in this region.”

Allura looks over the displays.

“I’m getting some kind of transmission from the surface,” she says. “Maybe it’s—”

Her Lion goes dark.

“I’ve lost sensory data!” she says. Gripping the controls, she pulls up as the Lion turns toward the planet. “Flight controls aren’t responding.”

“Same here,” Shiro says, spitting the words between his teeth. “Something’s wrong, we need to—”

Static.

“Shiro?” Allura calls. “Shiro!”

The Lions fall to the surface below.

.

.

.

The impact leaves her head jumbled.

She lags for moment, trying to make sense of the world. Her vision blurs in and out, spinning in slow-moving streaks that leaves her feeling ill. Sitting back in her chair, she tightens her grip on the controls, keeping her body as still as possible until it finally _stops_. The display on the console is dark, and she tugs on the left control stick, finding the Lion as inoperable as it was before.

She breathes.

“It’s alright, Blue,” she says, tilting her head on the chair. “We’ll figure this out.”

White noise hisses in her helmet.

.

.

.

She leaves the Lion, opening the hatch to find a strange world before her.

The environment appeared jungle-like, with a thick array of plants and foliage surrounding her and Blue. The air was hot and musty, filled of the mist they had encountered earlier. Moisture fogs the window of her helmet.

Allura sighs at the sight of it all.

“Just where have we landed?”

She looks to her left, and sees the Black Lion.

Her heart races.

“Shiro!” she calls, jetpacking to the ground. She runs full-on as she lands, arriving to the fallen Lion within seconds. Like Blue, Black was drained of power — dark and motionless. Dread creeps behind her as the static continues to flood her ears.

 _Please_ , she thinks, _not again—_

She goes to the Lion’s chest. Finding its hatch close to the ground, she jumps at it, her hand hanging on its latch. Bracing her foot on the Lion, she pulls until the door gives away and the panel opens with a hiss of air. She makes her way into the hatch, scrambling inside as she runs into the pilot’s cabin. The room is dark — she finds him slumped over in the chair.

“Shiro!” she says, kneeling down in front of him, her hands at his shoulders. His head rocks back as she eases him back, the glass of his helmet cracked from the impact. She stares at him, fear spread to all her limbs.

His eyes open with a groan.

“Urgh…” he says, breath blushing on the glass. “Allura? What happened?”

“We crashed,” she explains, resting her arms in her lap. “Both of the Lions are disabled. Are you alright?”

“Yeah… just fine,” he breathes, leaning on his chair. He pauses for a second to breath, then pushes off, standing so fast he almost trips over his feet. Allura quickly stands, hands pressed against his chest. He regains his balance after a few seconds, feet planting themselves to the floor. He hangs his head with a small sign, looking at her through the broken glass.

“Okay…” he breathes. “Maybe not so fine.”

.

.

.

They leave through the top hatch.

“We should try to find some higher ground,” Shiro says, head turning across the land. Finding a rocky outcrop on the horizon, he points to it. “That looks like our best bet.”

Allura follows the line of his hand — the distance is far.

“Will you be alright to travel?” she asks as he lowers the arm. He turns to her, his breathing hard.

“I think so,” he says, fogging up the glass. “Not like I can do anything from down here anyway.”

Her head bobs, he does have a point.

“Okay,” she says. “Let’s go.”

They jetpack from the Lion and head into the jungle.

.

.

.

The path ahead is dense, full of trees and underbrush that swarm together in tight bunches, making navigating the terrain easier said than done. Shiro leads, using his mechanized arm to cut away the smaller obstacles, while Allura follows closely behind. Her eyes wander as they walk, watching the way the light passes through the trees, the way the shadows fall. Everything is still — she hasn’t heard a single creature since they arrived.

She runs into something.

“Oh,” she says, looking at his back. “Sorry, Shiro.”

He doesn’t respond. Raising a brow, she leans around to his side, hand on the back of his arm.

“Shiro?”

Her voice carries through the helmets, and he jerks suddenly, twisting his body around as he looks toward the sky. Allura steps back as he scans the area, shuffling in the foliage as he sweeps the perimeter.

Then, he turns to her, his face on the verge of panic.

“Did you hear that?”

She shakes.

“I haven’t heard anything,” she says. “Are you feeling alright?”

His head turns. Pushing leaves and grass aside as he stomps through the area, looking for something unseen. His body twists and turns, and his breath increases as he brings a hand against his helmet, fingers bending at the glass. He stops, crouching to the ground as Allura runs, kneeling in front of him.

“Shiro,” she says, looking at her friend. “ _Please_ tell me what’s wrong.”

He continues to hold the helmet, hands closing around the sides of his head. His eyes shut tight, and Allura’s brow creases, reaching for his—

He shoves her back.

 _“Get away!”_ he shouts, shoving her back. Allura falls to the ground, her helmet rolling off as she catches herself with her arm. Shiro stares at her with utter fear, pushing back through the brush with his legs. He stops against a tree, arms wrapped around its trunk as his chest heaves up and down. Slowly, Allura stands, hands flat at her waist.

“Shiro, please,” she says. “I need to—”

He leans forward, throwing his helmet aside as he brings his arms around his ears.

“I’m not listening to you!” he says.

The mist thickens around them, and that’s when she hears the whispers.

They’re quiet at first, soft and small, like hundreds of conversations being spoken far away. Some voices are familiar, while some are not, but as they increase in volume, so too does their frequency. The constant noise gives her a headache, and she presses a hand to her temple. She looks around, searching for the source of the voices, but finds there is nothing to hear — not even the plant moving at her feet makes a sound. She puts her hands around her ears, pressing hard as she looks to Shiro—

“Allura.”

One voice. One voice breaks the monotony around her and casts away the noise. A voice that’s familiar to her — a voice she’d never thought she’d hear again.

She looks ahead.

“Father…”

She is wordless as he walks to her, his face warm and soft, the same as it had been before her slumber ten thousand years ago. He stops with a mere foot between them, hand reaching out to touch her cheek. That’s when she realizes — this is not a hologram. This is flesh and bone and blood. Tears well within her eyes as she feels the warmth of his hand. All her worries seem to drift away.

“Daughter,” Alfor says. “Finally, I have found you.”

“How—” she says. “How is this possible?”

“Does it matter?” he replies. He puts his hands on her shoulders, smiling gently at her. “I have waited ten thousand years to see your face again, I could not care how it came to be.”

She smiles back, placing her hand around his. Leaning her face into them, she breaths long and deep, relishing the—

Wait.

Allura stops, releasing his hand as she turns back to the trees. There is nothing there… but there should be _something_. But she can’t think of it now, she doesn’t know…

“Shiro,” she says, his name appearing in her mind. She steps away from her father, searching through the trees. She remembers now; they were here, together, trying to find a way home. They entered the forest after they crashed and—

She turns to Alfor.

“Where is he?”

“There is no one, daughter,” Alfor replies. He steps to her, holding out his hand. “Please, come with me.”

Something surges through her mind.

_Alfor is dead._

She steps away.

_He_ _’s been dead for ten thousand years._

“Allura,” he says, stretching his fingers. “Please—”

“You,” she says, arms firm at her sides. “Are not my father. Whatever you are is in the past. All of it.”

Alfor’s face flattens, and the whispers begin again.

 _She does not stay_ _…_ says a soft voice.

 _Keep them in_ _…_ says a higher tone.

 _Steal the present_ _…_ says a lower.

 _Steal the future_ _…_ says the deepest.

Allura turns, searching for the voices.

“Show yourselves!” she demands, bayard appearing in her hand. The voices continue their whispers, the sound flowing through the air. They sweep above her, collecting in mass before the apparition of her father. Alfor stares at her with blank, dead eyes and fades to nothing. In his place stand four small, gangly creatures — their arms and legs hunched together in a pack.

Allura tightens the grip on her bayard.

“What are you?” she asks. “Where is Shiro?”

The creatures shrink together, glowing yellow eyes turning to slits at they look ahead.

 _Gone_ _…_ says the soft voice.

 _Trapped in the past_ _…_ says the higher tone.

 _Steal the present_ _…_ says the lower.

 _Steal the time_ _…_ says the deepest.

Their lips move, but the voices appear not from their mouths, but within her mind.  The noise floods within her, a beating drum behind her eyes. Allura shuts one lid against the sound, her free hand reaching to cover her ear. The creatures open their mouths wide, the mist swirling around her—

—and Allura grits her teeth as her visibility fades, firing her bayard at the last place she saw the creatures. A high-pitched cry drills through her skull as the mist rips apart, and she finds the beings are not there anymore — they have vanished without a trace.

 _She interferes_ _…_ says the soft voice.

 _Stop her_ _…_ says the higher tone.

 _Stop her_ _…_ says the lower.

 _Stop her!_ says the deepest.

She feels a presence behind her. Turning, she sees Shiro appear from a cloaked vale of mist. Part of her swells with relief ( _he_ _’s alright—_ ) while the other stays firm, still with caution.

She says his name once.

“Shiro—”

And his arm activates.

The mist blocks her vision, but she can still see the glow of Galra purple beneath the smoke. Bringing her bayard up, deflecting the blow with a hard _snap_. She does it again, and again, and again — until finally she grabs the end of the bayard and pulls it taut in front of her, shielding her body from a strike directed at her heart. Sparks fly from impact, but Allura holds her own, pushing against his surge of strength, hoping to keep him in one place—

“Shiro, please!” she shouts. “Come to your senses!”

The voices speaks again.

 _No hope_ _…_ says the soft voice.

 _He is gone_ _…_ says the higher tone.

 _Take the present_ _…_ says the lower.

 _Take the future…_ says the deepest.

He draws his fist away, throwing it against the whip with all his strength. Allura flies back from the blow, hitting a tree a few feet from where they stood, her head spinning. She fights through the tilt of the world, standing just in time to wrap her bayard around his incoming strike. She holds the limb firm between them, leaning her body close to his as he tries to take it back.

“Shiro,” she says. “You have to fight this! Whatever you’re seeing isn’t real!”

He reaches for her suit with his bare hand. Lifting her by the edge of her collar, he grunts, tossing her away. Her bayard becomes loose on his arm, and he walks toward her, the intensity of its glow growing. She draws the whip tight in as he raises the hand, striking down so fast she stops it just before her shoulder, the coils straining against his weight. He leans into her, his face angry and tense. There is no recognition in his eyes — only malice.

“Shiro…” she says again. “Please… There has to be a way for you to fight this. You must find it!”

He pushes harder — the coils begin to bend…

She thinks back to the voices.

_Take the present_ _… Take the future._

“Shiro.”

It would be foolish to say with all their loss, all their hardship and pain that her mind would not wander, dreaming of a future after the war. A future with someone she trusted, someone she cared for… Such dreams are far, but even she has to hope.

That is why she does not cry when her whip gives away.

That is why she does not scream as hot metal melts her armor.

That is why, instead, she moves her hands to his face and brings her lips to his — to imagine a future beyond the present, beyond the war—

—she could only hope that somehow, someway, he might feel the same.

After a moment, she lets go. Shiro _reels_ back, head arched to the sky as the voices scream from within him, crying to get out. The mist whirls, twisting around them both as dirt and plant are pulled up in the storm, mixing into a tornado of screams shouting to the sky. Allura covers her ears as it continues, knees drawn up to her chest. But eventually, the wind dies, and Shiro slumps forward, his body limp…

She catches him between her arms, lowering him to the ground. His head presses to her shoulder, and she breathes a sigh of relief.

_“Thank you, Shiro.”_

The mist fades — and the voices stop.

.

.

.

He wakes with a _jolt_ hours later. Raising slowly from the ground, his body aching as his hand presses against his head.

“Argh…” he groans, looking around. “Wait, where—”

“Back with the Lions,” Allura explains, sitting nearby. “You passed out in the forest, so I brought you back here.”

“Really?” His hand goes over his eyes. “I could’ve sworn I had this weird dream… there was some kind of voices speaking to me — and then…”

Shiro stops, brow furrowing as his hand covers his mouth. Staying still, he thinks for a moment, slowly moving his fingers along his lips. After some time has passed, his eyes move, breaking from the trance as he turns to see her looking at him—

“Sorry,” he says. “It was just… a strange dream.”

Allura nods.

“Well,” she replies. “It’s all in the past now.”

Shiro smiles, lowering his hand as he tilts his head back with a sigh.

“It’s already night…” he says. “Guess we’ll have to try again in the morning…”

As if on cue, the Lion’s move. Standing from the trampled ground, their eyes spark with light, and the each give a loud roar. Allura smiles as the smog of white above them thins, giving way to a sleek, star-lit sky.

“Guess we won’t have to wait around after all.”

They head to the Lions.

.

.

.

The mist still covers their vision, but now they can see the way out. Dodging the asteroids that had strayed above the planet’s orbit, they speed through the veil. Shiro leads in the Black Lion, the smaller space-rocks breaking off its gigantic frame. They part through the planet’s atmosphere as the fog clears, leaving them in the middle of the field.

“Guys, guys!” Shiro says. “We’re back! Are you okay?”

“Of course we’re okay,” Lance says. “The radios were only down for a minute.”

Allura’s head pushes back.

“Wait, no,” she says as she and Shiro both turn their Lions around. “We were—”

The planet was gone. Allura looks at Shiro through the video feed, sharing an exchange of mutual confusion.

“So…” Lance continues. “You guys coming to the cruiser or what?”

Shiro shakes.

“We’re on our way.”

Allura follows as he pushes through the cluster. With the Galra cruiser in their sights, she feels the memory of their adventure disappear from her mind — fading into something like a dream. Shiro breaks into open space, the other Lion’s converging around them.

She smiles.

_“Form Voltron!”_

She can still remember the warmth of his lips.


End file.
